I Keep Running the Wrong Way!

 Lately, I've been learning how to run. It sounds weird when I say it, but it's the truth. Now, I don't mean physically "run", but more of a spiritual run. I'll explain.

 Have you ever upset your parents, friend, or someone you respect and you think that you deserve the absolute worst punishment? However, this person grants you something you didn't expect at all? Usually it sounds like, "It's ok, I forgive you".

What! You FORGIVE me? No. This doesn't supposed to happen this way.

It's almost as if we beg for punishment for our own well being. Maybe it's just me who does that...or not.

Grace is something powerful. It really throws a person off when unexpected. I find that I tend to run away from grace often. I feel undeserving. Unworthy of grace. When I mess up, I run away. I do this with my family, my friendships, and even in my relationship. Why? Deep down I really want grace for my mishaps, but my own self righteousness tells me otherwise. I must pay for what I did wrong, I deserve the life sentence. I don't want to be charity.

God says otherwise. God tells us that we should boldly approach His throne. There we will find grace and mercy. Don't run away from it, run towards it! This is how I show God that I am grateful for His son and his payment for me. This is how I show my friends, my family, and my girlfriend that I am thankful for their love.

Imagine you've cooked tons of food and you invite your friends over with the intent of offering them what you prepared, but they refuse. Now, maybe they aren't that hungry or something like that. But, maybe they decline just to be "nice". I do this often. Actually, just yesterday. I declined a free gift out of a feeling of "I don't deserve this".

I want to stop running away. Punishing myself does not make it better. I've tried. Nothing good comes out of it, no matter how much I think it will. From now on, I will humbly accept the grace Jesus gives me. I will humbly accept the grace my loved ones grant me. I will use it as motivation to be a better person,  a better Christian. I will run towards His avalanche-like grace.

One other thing I learned a while back. This is for those who may not find that they receive grace often. "The more grace you give to others,  the more grace will be given to you". Try it.

Until next time...

-Christian Robertson

"Good story, tell it again!"

I didn't do much talking growing up. As a matter of fact, even to this day, anyone who knows me probably wouldn't pick me as the "person who never shuts up". I have to say that I can actually hold my own in a conversation due to much practice. I don't feel as scared or nervous anymore.

I never knew what to talk about. That was mainly the reason I suppose. Whenever we started getting cell phones teenagers and we would talk on the phone, I dreaded the question: "Sooo, what do you want to talk about"? I don't know about anyone else, but this was always so awkward for me. The pressure would rise up in me so fast as I would jog my mind for the first sensible thing to blurt out. That sensible thing usually ended up being something along the lines of "I don't know, what do you want to talk about"? Pressure subsides slightly. "I don't know, I asked you first...". Pressure builds back up...

One thing I noticed all those days I would blend in with a group of people in the hallways at school was the fact that someone always had a story to tell. They were always great stories! They made me laugh and built up excitement inside of me as I would paint a "mind movie" inside my head. I was always particularly good at doing that, ever since a little kid. I can imagine things to very fine details---as if I was actually involved in the story.

I came to college and met Eric Treuil and he became by far the best story teller I have ever known! He was funny and always had the crowd hanging on to his every word. How did he do it so well? 

Everyone doesn't start off with the gift of telling great stories in my opinion. There are great story tellers, but then there are bad ones. Some friends told me about our friend Lana who had to learn the hard way about good story telling. According to her, she would tell exciting stories(so she thought) to her softball teammates at practices. After she would finish her spill, she would get a not so nice reaction. Her teammates would clap and sarcastically chant "Gooood story, tell it again". Ouch. I can't imagine hearing that after telling what I thought would be a fantastic story.

No one wants to be that person at the party.  Heck, I pray to never be that person at the party.

Hearing about Lana made me start to ponder on what it took to tell a good story. I realized that stories are all about life. Every person has a life, therefore, providing great potential stories to tell. However, not everyone has experiences worth telling a story about. Yes, that is subjective, but hear me out.


Imagine I went to work every day and worked the same 9-5 shift. I would then come home and watch a couple of my favorite TV shows, eat some dinner, and then go to bed. What if that was the only thing I did...ever? I can't imagine much out of the ordinary happening too often. 

My good friend and mentor Lee spoke once about living a life worth telling about. This message was inspired by a book by author Donald Miller. He spoke about how we shouldn't shy away from experiences that are outside of the ordinary. These non-ordinary things are the life experiences worth telling about. 

I can tell you, I grew up striving to be super ordinary. I didn't like to do things that would make me the least bit uncomfortable. I didn't like to shake things up.  For example: I didn't eat any meat that wasn't chicken. I would only wear basketball shoes, and speaking of shoes, I never took mines off when walking in the sand. Like I said, ordinary. 

Some things have changed since then. I like steak and I occasionally take my shoes off on the beach now. I have experienced more things that are worth sharing. Which brings me to this last point. Now that I have opened my self up to some new experiences, new places, and new people; how do I make these into good stories to share? What does it take?

To be continued....

Would you like whipped cream on that?

 "Grande Chocolate Mochasippi? Would you like some whipped cream"? I wish I had a dime for every time I said that line. If I did, I would be pretty wealthy. Working at Community Coffee House has taught me a lot about interacting with people. I've gained more patience, understanding, and have been forced to communicate better as a person. Patience, however, is the most important for working at a coffee shop. There are so many times when a customer would come inside or in the drive-thru and order a drink. It's a coffee shop, that is what happens, people order drinks. My point though is that so many people come through and there is a mis-communication of some sort of what drink they ordered. Sometimes it's our fault, but at other times it's not. Even when it's not our fault that a drink is "not what the customer wanted", we have to make it over the "correct" way. Asking them what we can do to make it better for them becomes quite inconvenient when there is a line wrapped around the building during our morning rush, but we must be patient with them for the simple fact that the customer is always right.
 
  Since graduating college this past May, my mindset has changed dramatically. I'll explain. Working at CC's has been a great job for me to gain some extra cash during my last year of school. I didn't really work during college before that because of clinicals with my major and the great time commitment. My senior year, however, I decided to try and fit a job in there. It was tough at times, but the company was really flexible with me. As graduation became closer though, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I could see myself doing something in my field of study soon after I walked across that stage. Surprisingly, it didn't exactly happen that way.
 
  The entire summer was full of driving around Lafayette delivering resume's, calling every clinic I came across, and attending interviews here and there. Nothing seemed to work out for me as easily as I thought it should. I knew I had to be patient and realize that it takes time for a recent grad to find work in their major, nothing unusual. The final weeks of July approach and again I thought I would have retired my apron by now. Unfortunately, I was still serving up caramel lattes. Every shift that came and went I grew more and more frustrated and impatient. I would think to myself: "I am higher than this. I deserve better. I worked really hard to get a degree, I shouldn't be here right now"! Every customer that came up, I so desperately wanted to make it known to them that I graduated and that I was worth more. I wanted them to know that this wasn't the end of the road for me. My attitude became very funky, until God reminded me of something very important. Humbleness.
 
  How could I forget about this? How could I forget that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble? Duhh Christian! I started to realize that I didn't have to have this attitude. I had to get rid of that nasty mindset and notice that having any job at the moment is a blessing, given the economy now. I was reminded that I needed to make the most of the situation that I am in currently and use it to prepare myself for the next step. I know God has more for me, but I believe this is something that I needed to learn first.
 
  There will be times in our lives when we will not like the situation we are in at all, we will feel like we are "much more" than this, but we must praise Him still and not be bitter about it. I became bitter and impatient because of the pressure of getting my new life jump-started seemed to not move as quickly as I felt it should. I felt discouragement every time I had to tell someone that I was "still looking for a job". Once I let all of that go and remembered that I had to be grateful for the little things so that I can appreciate the bigger things more, that junk inside of me started to leave. I learned to be content with where I was.
 
  Three to four days after this revelation I received a call for a very good job offer.  It's amazing how fast things can turn! It couldn't have come at a better time for me. I will make the most of these last few weeks at CC's like I should."Tall mocha? Sure. Oh yea...would you like whipped cream on that"?

Until next time...

-Christian

 

I am okay with that.

  This weekend I was having a conversation with my friends Tyren and Chinos about a book called "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. I never read the book, but I received a very good explanation of what it was about. The author wrote about why people have great success. The example that Tyren gave was that of hockey players in Canada. Kids who were born well before the cut off date are typically bigger than the ones who just made the cut off date to enter school, therefore, more athletic for the most part. So those kids always had an advantage because they were in an environment where they stood out physically. Through the years they would play hockey, they would always get to go to the good hockey camps and continue to get better and better. This set them up for success above their peers. The book seemed to question if success was based on "natural" talent or genes like we always seemed to think. Maybe a person's success was based on something else. Malcolm Gladwell presents the idea that these great professional athletes, businessmen, actors, simply had the advantage of being in the right environment.

  

  Every time I come home since I have been in college and now post-college, I have began to notice how different I am from the people around me. I look around at people in my neighborhood and all around my hometown and notice that I am different in a lot of ways. Why is that? I grew up in the same neighborhood, same school, similar circumstances and a few other variables that are closely related. However, we are completely un-alike. There must be something else that plays a factor in the outcomes of one person to the other. 

  While I agree with Malcolm that environment plays a role in how a person ends up and how they are set up for success, I believe there is something else that goes with it. My reason being that if it was solely environmental conditions, I would be much more like the people I see back home. I think there is power in encouragement. Despite the situations I grew up in, I was set up for success by being told that life does not have to be like you see it now. It can look totally different for me. I can be someone. I can go somewhere. I think that is the "other" thing. I think that encouragement is the difference between a person who "makes it out and does something". Why? Well someone had the heart and told me that I do not have to settle for what I see.  Some people do not get to have someone tell them that. I realize how blessed I am, but at the same time my heart breaks for those I see who did not have what I had. 

  By all means, this is not a blog to bash or puff myself up, but merely to reveal a point. I CHOSE to go to college, I CHOSE to dream big, I CHOSE to live a different lifestyle than what I saw, but instead a Christian lifestyle. All these things contribute to who I am now and how I live now. When I mention to people from home that I enjoy hanging out at coffee shops with friends and reading books, or that I have a desire to be married in my early twenties and that I love going on mission trips to tell people about the love of Christ, it shocks them. I truly believe it's because its against the "norm". It's different than usual. It is different than my past environment. I admit it, I am different in a lot of ways, but I am okay with that.

Untill next time...

-Christian

Be Still.

I am proud to say that I was a very involved person in my high school days. In order to combat my extreme shyness, I decided to get involved with as many things as I can so that I won't be that way anymore. From four different sports and another four clubs added to that, I became really busy during my stay at Morgan City High. My grandma would always tell me, "Chris, you need to slow down". I would always say back to her "I will Mama. Once I graduate, I won't be this busy, I'll slow down".

I wish I could say that I did slow down after I graduated. Now, four years later, I am saying, "Ok Mama, I'm almost done with college, I am pretty sure I will slow down. For real this time". I have to say that I am used to running around all the time. For my entire duration at UL I have had to learn some major time management skills. There is no way I could have survived if I hadn't acquired that essential skill, but because I did, I have learned how to be a very flexible person.

I am days away from graduating and I am really happy. I totally enjoyed this experience the last four years. If I hadn't been as involved as I was, I probably wouldn't have learned some great things that I did. However, the newest thing that I have been realizing this past school year is something that tends to sneak upon you if you are someone who is constantly on the go. I have a hard time being in the moment. With so many things going on at once, it is very hard to concentrate on the very thing that is currently in front of me. For instance, if I am having lunch with a friend, my mind wanders to the baseball game I need to attend for clinicals later. Or maybe to the project I have due in 4 hours from that.  It's as if my mind never stops, even though I am physically still. 

Be still. Be still and know. These words have become a big thing to me after watching this video by Blaine Hogan.  He addresses the very issue I explained earlier. I even noticed that this problem spilled into my time with God. It is sometimes a challenge to pray and worship Him without thinking about the next thing I must accomplish. I feel as if I am cheating Him of the time He deserves. Be still. Be still and know...be here now. 

I am in the midst of making some big decisions concerning my future. Two months ago, if you asked me what I planned to do, I could tell you exactly. Now it is a different story. Huge decisions upon the horizon and it is so hard not to think about it. Just another plate added to everything else in my life currently. More than ever, it has been hard to just be. It feels like productivity isn't happening if I am just still and not actively thinking of what to do or where to be. Something must go on, right? No. Be still. 

Being concerned about making the right decision about my future is overwhelming. But I know I have to be still and trust that God is going to speak to me, in the stillness. I know I have to slow down and focus on just one thing at a time.  I have to willingly give up the anxiousness, anxiety, and the control of it all and know that He is going to come through. It's funny that I came across this lesson earlier this year not knowing it will be something that would become of great importance. Be still. Be here now.

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth"- Psalm 46:10

Check out the link I posted below of the video!

-Christian

Watch "Be Here Now"

More like "Happy Single Awareness Day"

So I promised myself that I would write a blog for those who happen to be on the other side of Valentine's Day this year. Some singles totally ignore and deny the reality of Valentine's Day.(Raise your hand if you are that person) Others simply embrace Single Awareness Day and are happy with that, others not so much. We all have experienced this side of the holiday at some point and depending on how we handle it determines how many "love is for losers" or "This holiday isn't even a real holiday, it's pointless" comments we make. 

I have decided to share a few tips that I have learned on how to survive and handle Single Awareness Day this year. Again, I am no expert, but I have had my share of single Valentine days. I must give credit to Eric Treuil for an indirect contribute to this blog. Here it goes:

1. There is Hope- The great thing about this holiday is that the way you celebrate can change every year. So that means, if you are single this year, you may not be next year. Don't be discouraged. We all desire relationships with others rather it's friends or lovers. Your day will come.

2. Don't be surprised- This obviously isn't the only time you realize that you are a single individual. So don't be surprised when you wake up tomorrow and there aren't any roses or love letters waiting on your porch on windshield. 

3. Capitalize- Relationships require time, duh! Since you have more free time now, capitalize on the friendships you have currently. Get to know people a little bit better than just surface level. Friends are important!

4. Be content-Live your life today. It's easy to not fantasize about the future and our future love lives. However, there are things that are going on around us now. Take care of those things and don't miss out on the opportunities in front of you. Be content with yourself and try not to live far ahead of today.

5. Who's your source?- God made us to be in relationship with Him. So we will forever have a spot in our hearts that we will try to fill with all sorts of things. No matter how great and loving your future significant other will be, they still won't fill that space that God specifically put there. It's for Him. So start there first!

6. To find the One, be the One- Get yourself together and figure out the things you need to work on before being inside of a relationship. Learn what you like about yourself and what may need to change for the better. 

7. Practice Commitment- This is really important in a relationship. Be a man/woman of your word. Practice being committed to the things you say you are going to do. The big reason for divorce these days is because we practice it in our dating relationships! We date, figure out something we don't like about someone, then breakup. Practice commitment with the little things. Keep your word!

8. Group Fun- Go hang out with some friends on this day and don't be bitter. Simply enjoy yourself and be glad! Your time will come. 

I hope these tips help! Feel free to share any that may have helped you in the past! Happy Single Awareness Day!

The Pressures of Valentine's Day

February. The month of love. Filled with tons of chocolate, roses, candy hearts, and every possible shade of pink and red splattered on on a Valentine's Day card.  If you have a significant other, this is the tests of all tests. This is how you prove that you can be creative and thoughtful.  The course of your relationship for the next year depends on this one day. Pressure? Oh yea. What if you were thoughtful and creative all the other days of the year? Doesn't that count for something? Not during February. Don't get me wrong, it's not that everything you've done wasn't appreciated, but this is the day that makes everything else worth something. At least, that's what I've gathered from the movies...

I decided to give a few tips of how to successfully survive Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Guru, but I've had some experiences and I've learned some stuff. So I'll share!

1. Ask- You can't have a Valentine until you ask someone. Even if you already have a girlfriend or boyfriend, it still is important to ask!

2. Know all the favorites- this shows that you have been paying attention the whole time you've been knowing each other. Include some of his/her favorites with your gift. Hearts candy are classic!

3. Do not procrastinate shopping- The worst thing is to get to Wal-Mart and only come out with one box of Hearts candy because everything was sold out. Also, things can get really weird when you just so happen to run into your Valentine at the store. There's no way of looking innocent when this happens.

4. Be creative-if your significant other is crafty, go the home-made card route. It shows thoughtfulness, creativity, and that you put your effort and time into it.

5. Save- This day is special. Save up and take them out to somewhere a little nicer than usual. Skip the McDonald's for this week. Or even have a home cooked meal!

6. Do small things throughout the month leading up to the big day-Little notes and candy bars every now and then won't hurt.

7. Stay away from Cheesy- Get advice before doing something really risky. Don't do everything you see in the movies! Be original!

With good planning and a little bit of creativity, you can make a really good impression for Valentine's Day. Make it your own and go out and "whoo" that special someone. Keep it Holy though!

Until next time...

-Christian

What are some of your favorite Valentine's Day tips?